As the use of the Internet and dial-up computer services have increased, publishers have begun to seek new ways to sell their published works. Various publishers have started creating on-line versions of their magazines that are available through a dial-up service such as America Online. To read one of these on-line magazines, a consumer typically signs on to the dial-up service and reads the magazine while connected to the service.
These on-line magazines, however, have disadvantages. A consumer that is on-line reading an on-line magazine has to pay for the time that he is on-line. These time charges can cause an electronic magazine to exceed the newsstand price of that magazine. Most interactive versions of magazines also do not carry advertisements. Without advertisements, the publisher of the magazine loses a potential source of revenue and advertisers are cut off from consumers. Also, many consumers utilizing dial-up services only have a single phone line, so reading the on-line magazine ties up the consumer's phone line. Accessing on-line magazines may also be inconvenient as a consumer may have to proceed through a number of steps required by the on-line service each time he desires to read the on-line magazine.